Angler Hji.Y, 1958 Pennsylvania Fish Commission
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PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER HJI.Y, 1958 PENNSYLVANIA FISH COMMISSION 'TSgjjjl*-."" Take 'Em Fishing By H. S. VAN BROOKLYN, Woonsocket (R. I.J Call If you know a lad who's "out of line" an' headin' "down the grade," And you think 'twould help if he'd forget the errors he had made, Lend him a rod and line and let him see how flies are made— An' take him fishin'. If you have a grouchy neighbor who seems spoilin' for a fight, And you think perhaps its ulcers, or that he can't sleep at night, And you'd like to change his attitude to one that's gay an' bright— Take him fishin'. If the boss is on the warpath and works you like a slave, And you fear his disposition will drive him to his grave, Remind him how he used to be before he learned to shave— Take him fishin'. If your wife is in a frenzy with her hundred daily chores, With her sweepin', cookin', moppin' and washin' walls and floors, Convince her she'll feel better with a few hours out- of-doors— Take her fishin' And if you're feelin' down and out and tired enough to drop, And cash is short and bills pile up as though they'd never stop, Quit frettin', get your fishin' gear, close up the darned old shop— An' YOU go fishin'. PENNSYLVANIA FISH COMMISSION PENNSYLVANIA DIRECTORY EXECUTIVE OFFICE ANGLER WILLIAM VOIGT, JR. Executive Director DR. ALBERT S. HAZZARD Asst. Director Published Monthly by the H. R. STACKHOUSE Administrative Secretory PENNSYLVANIA FISH COMMISSION JOSEPH J. MICCO COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA Comptroller George M. Leader, Governor PAUL J. SAUER Assistant Comptroller • • Pennsylvania Fish Commission DIVISIONS JOHN W. GRENOBLE, President Carlisle ALBERT R. HINKLE, Vice Pres Clearfield R. STANLEY SMITH Waynesburg Aquatic Biology WALLACE DEAN Meadville JOSEPH M. CRITCHFIELD Confluence CORDON TREMBLEV Chief GERARD ADAMS Hawloy MAYNARD BOGART Danville Fish Culture DEWEY SORENSON Superintendent Engineering ftlOMAS F. O'HARA Chief Engineer JULY, 1958 VOL. 27, NO. 7 Real [slate CYRIL G. REGAN Chief law Enforcement WILLIAM W. BRITTON chief J. ALLEN BARRETT, Editor JOHNNY NICKLAS, Photographer Conservation Educatlon-Pub/ic Relations C. ROBERT GLOVER Chief • CONTENTS REGIONAL OFFICES Northwest 2 YOU'VE GOT TO SPECIALIZE—Bill Walsh Conneautvllle Phone 3033 4 PENNSYLVANIA WRITERS IN FLORIDA '• CARLYLE SHELDON ... .Warden Supervisor 5 LOOK BEFORE BUYING A "USED" BOAT VACANT Fishery Manager 6 A LAKE IS REBORN—Thad Bukowski Southwest R. D. 2 9 SMOOTH WATER DRY FLIES—L James Bashline Somerset Phone 6913 11 THEY CALL IT "RESEARCH"—Robert R. Bowers WINTER C JONES Warden Supervisor 13 SUSQUEHANNA RIVER LAKES—Robert G. Miller °AN HEYL Fishery Manager 16 FISHING WITH THE BUBBLE—Ray Ovington Northeast 18 LET'S GO FISHING, GIRLS—Mrs. Sharon Orman 546 Main Street Honesdale 20 SUICIDE POND—N. R. Casillo Phone 1485 RALPH O. SINGER Warden Supervisor 24 FILLET THAT BASS—Ned Smith BUDDY L. JACOB Fishery Manager THE COVER: Bass Fishing on Conneaut Lake Photo by Johnny Nicklas Southeast Box 145 COVER THREE: NOTES FROM THE STREAMS Hellam Phone York 47-6688 BACK COVER: North Branch, Susquehanna River (near Wapwallopen) J°HN S. OGDEN Warden Supervisor "OBERT BIELO Fishery Manager "orth Central 644 W. Main Street Lock Haven The PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER Is published monthly by the Pennsylvania Fish Commission, South Office Building, Harrisburg, Pa. Subscription: $1.00 per year, 10 cents per single copy. Phone 6497 Send check or money order payable to Pennsylvania Pish Commission. DO NOT SEND LfSTER c. OGDEN Warden Supervisor STAMPS. Individuals sending cash do so at their own risk. Change of address should reach D us promptly. Furnish both old and new addresses. Entered as Second Class matter at the «NIEL REINHOLD Fishery Manager Post Office, Harrisburg, Pa., under Act of March 3, 1873. s Neither Publisher nor Editor will assume responsibility lor unsolicited manuscripts or °uth Centra/ Illustrations while In their possession or In transit. Permission to reprint will be given 201 Ridge Road provided we receive marked copies and credit Is given material or Illustrations. Com Huntingdon munications pertaining to manuscripts, material or illustrations should be addressed to the Pennsylvania Fish Commission, Harrisburg, Pa. Phone Mitchell 3-1321 "AROLD CORBIN Warden Supervisor NOTICE: Subscriptions received and processed after the 10th of each month will begin with the CURTIS SIMES Fishery Manager second month following. For Muskies In Presque Isle Bay J. You^ve Got To Specialize! By BILL WALSH "Who does this W. T. Patterson think he is?" fish on a big copper spoon he fashioned from a chunk howls Al Rossi, waving a recent issue of PENNSYL of raw material his uncle, Jake Mainzer (who taught VANIA ANGLER under my nose. him to fish for muskies 25 years ago), rescued from "Look, right here he says that Presque Isle Bay is a junk heap. The treble hook that trails this silver- one body of water that receives too little attention dollar size wobbler is draped with black and white from the musky fishermen. The few muskies that are hair—the black from a squirrel tail and the white caught each year are usually taken incidental to fishing for other species of game fishes." "Isn't that right?" we ask him. (RIGHT) Rossi "hangs" a "Heck no—ain't I living proof that you've got to 46 inch, 31 pound muskie specialize to take muskies and fish only for them? taken on a copper spoon Leave us bloody this Patterson's literary nose with the —black and white buck- truth on muskie fishing up here." tail combination. Well, with Rossi holding my arm behind my back and twisting all the way—what else can I do? Truth is that in recent years—with musky specialists like (Below) Al leading the way to prove the big fellows are there A young friend awed by for the taking—the numbers of out-and-out dyed-in- a 47' _> inch, 28 pound the-wool muskie anglers are on the increase. Fact is specimen taken on a sur you will find them trolling Presque Isle Bay in face plug. Where were they caught? Presque Isle everything from prams to 40-foot yachts—quarry, Bay, of course. muskies. During September and October of for ex ample, Rossi himself caught and ex hausted 23 of the big fish. He kept eight of these—all in the 40-inch or over category, the heaviest being a 46-incher that tipped the scales at 31 pounds. Nothing to make the Lake- of-the Woods folks of Wisconsin sit up and whistle—but plenty of musky for Pennsylvania, and plenty plentiful, too, by any standard. Most were taken casting, throwing big, glistening hardware into and around the edge of the weed beds that rim Presque Isle—waiting for the big strike or the impressive follow-up that tells him a muskie is at home. Then it is a matter of concentrating on that spot until he gets tired and moves on to another—or gets the fish. Rossi makes some of his own lures and took a good number of this year's 2 PENNSYLVANIA ANGLE)1 from a polar bear. MAP OF Presque Isle Bay and environs. ". no special He also takes them on big plugs—the big jointed place for muskies. ... in the weed beds or in 30 feet of water out in the middle." However, shore line points in pikie being a special favorite and a big "mouse" type dicated with "X" have been most productive in recent years. in pure white also having proved a steady producer over the years. of the year, he would undoubtedly pick up some To prove that this muskie fishing is not just a passing more—but, as he says, he would also be without fancy with Al and his prototypes who haunt Presque home, wife, and job—so he concentrates on the two Isle waters, Al has brought home over 170 muskies best months of the year. |n his 25 years of fishing for them. Here is some of his personal advice to those who Unlike other fishermen who have kept records of would catch the "tiger of the waters"—consistently. the numbers they've caught, Rossi has only counted "Never give a musky an even break. Not that you the ones he's considered big enough to bring home. should use broom-handles and clotheslines on them, As a youngster, he undoubtedly kept some he'd quickly it's just that you've got to keep your tackle up to toss away today—to grow up—but for many years a snuff or a hooked muskie will turn into just another musky has had to be 40 inches or over to earn the lost musky. That is one reason the average bass trip up the street and eventually into the frying pan plugger who attracts an occasional musky to his lure °r oven. For the Rossi family eats every fish and finds loses the fish more often than not. the flesh of the musky firm and sweet. "I use a safety wire attached to each lure leader. Over the years Rossi has earned his reputation as This is wound around the main leader and is insurance 'Musky King" of Erie by tallying up his score during against a musky's rolling on the snap. Lost several September and October each year. If he fished the rest fish this way—as well as the plugs. 'ULY—1958 3 "Had a fellow accuse me of being a poor sport one time (not giving the fish a chance to get away).